Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Junior Jamie Lea collected 25 kills while hitting .380 over 50 attacks to guide LMU (14-6, 5-3 WCC) to its fifth straight victory, this time a five-set comeback win over Santa Clara (15-5, 6-2 WCC) on Saturday afternoon from Gersten Pavilion. The victory, which came by scores of 23-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-22, 15-9, snapped a six-match win streak for the Broncos and moved LMU to 4-3 in five-set matches this year.

Lea's 25 kills were the most for a Lion since Kathleen Luft had 25 at San Francisco on November 17, 2012. The LMU attack was strong throughout the match, connecting for .455 and .489 clips despite losing the first two sets. LMU finished with a .346 team hitting percentage as Hannah Tedrow dished-out 77 assists. That mark is tied for sixth-most in LMU history for a single match, and the most since K.C. Walsh had 77 against San Jose State on September 17, 2005.

In addition to Lea, three other Lions collected double-digit kills, with Rachelle Suaava posting 18 while hitting .342. Sarah Sponcil had 17 to accompany 17 digs for a double-double, while Jennifer Casillas totaled 15, and Amber Mirabello had 11.

Santa Clara received 19 kills from Nikki Hess, as Hess teamed that mark with 14 digs for a double-double. Hess also had two of Santa Clara's eight service aces on the afternoon.

The Lions looked impressive on the attack early in the match, but suffered a pair of close setbacks to fall behind 2-0 in the match score. LMU did not allow the heartbreak to linger, winning the third set with its back to the wall. After posting four kills apiece in the first two sets, Sponcil collected five in the third. The two teams played even to 11-11, but the Lions won six straight points, including three on Suaava kills, to open the set up a bit at 17-11. The lead stretched to 21-13 on a pair of errors from Santa Clara, and LMU eventually earned the set on a Kirsten Mead service error.

Still needing to win a set to keep the match alive, LMU received six kills on 10 errorless swings from Lea and held Santa Clara to just .091 hitting defensively en route to earning the 25-22 victory. LMU never trailed in the fourth after jumping out to an early 10-3 advantage, but the Broncos did manage to claw back even later in the period. A Suaava attack error cut the deficit to three at 15-12, forcing a Lion timeout, before a four-point run completely erased the lead at 17-17 on a Jensen Cunningham kill. After trading the next two points to 18-18, LMU won three straight, highlighted by a Lea kill, to reclaim a 21-18 advantage. Casillas pushed the Lions to set point at 24-21 with her third kill of the period, and Sponcil ensured that the Lions would play five sets with her second just two plays later.

The Lions, who hit .412 in the final stanza, used an early run en route to completing the comeback victory in the fifth, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 10-4 lead by way of a 7-0 run that cost Santa Clara both of its timeouts. Lea had three kills and Suaava served up a pair of aces to highlight the string. Sponcil's final kill of the day pushed LMU to a 13-8 lead before Mirabello connected for point 14 at 14-9. Wasting no time putting the match away, Suaava and Casillas joined forces to stuff Sabrina Clayton at the net for a block and the match-winner.

LMU will return to action on Thursday when it hosts San Diego at 7 pm in WCC play.